Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

The Blue Devils opened their season celebrating their 2023-2024 Class C state championship, but opponent Southern Cayuga spoiled the celebration by taking down Moravia that night, 72-63.

It's the Blue Devils' lone loss on the season, as they entered sectionals on a 17-game winning streak.

With the two teams facing off again in the Section IV, Class C quarterfinals on Friday at Moravia High School, the No. 1-seeded Blue Devils looked to exorcise their one demon. And they did just that as they took down their division rival, and the tournament's No. 8 seed, by a score of 78-54. 

For senior Joe Baylor, the victory meant a little more due to the way the season began.

"It feels great to beat them," he told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV. "They're the ones that gave us this reality check in the beginning of the year (of) 'We can't let our heads get too big.' So it feels great to end their season after they beat us the first game."

Though the Blue Devils emerged on top, Southern Cayuga's new all-time boys leading scorer, Isaac Brozon, was a thorn in their side once again. The senior guard scored 9 first-quarter points while Ben Kermidas had 6, giving their team a 15-14 lead late in the first. But a pair of Baylor layups at the end of the quarter gave the Blue Devils a 3-point edge.

An avalanche then ensued in the second quarter.

Moravia would go on an 18-0 run at the start of the period, which was capped off by a Baylor dunk with under four minutes left to go. Along with the Blue Devils sinking five 3-pointers in the period, their offensive rebounding gave them several second chances around the rim. 

"Jairen (Francis), Joe and Zach (Szachta) have been doing a great job of controlling the glass all year," Moravia head coach Todd Mulvaney told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV. "It's been one of our strengths of just being able to control the board.

"It's a good feeling knowing that we can control it both at the offensive and defensive end. Offensive end gets us second and third chances, but then the defensive end, if we limit them to one-and-done, that's going to help us out."

Behind the second-quarter barrage from beyond the arc — three of the five 3-pointers coming from Szachta — the Blue Devils blew the game open to 46-27 at the half.

Brozon looked to give Southern Cayuga some momentum with a 10-point third quarter, but the Blue Devils held the rest of the team to just 2 points. 

"I think it's a matter of making it as difficult as you can and make (Brozon) work for his shots," Mulvaney said. "And he did. He worked for hard shots, and that's all we could do. Eventually he's gonna hit some, and sometimes maybe you get a rebound and steal a possession. But I think we did a great job of also defending his supporting cast as well."

Playing a key role in that was Riley Jones. The senior worked his way into passing lanes, forced turnovers and helped the Blue Devils get easy fast break opportunities. On top of his defensive contributions, Jones scored 6 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as his team took home the win.

Though Jones scored just 2 points in Moravia's Interscholastic Athletic Conference Small School championship win on Feb. 21, Mulvaney knew he didn't have to worry about the senior's effort or attitude.

"Kid has heart," he said. "He's a tough kid. I love coaching Riley Jones, because you know exactly what you're gonna get from him every night. He's always consistent with his hustle and his defense.

"If he doesn't have a great night offensively, he'll work hard to try to correct that. And that was the case. He didn't have a great game over at the IAC championship, so he was bound to work and have a better offensive game for us tonight."

Baylor led the Blue Devils with a game-high 30 points, while Szachta scored 16 on five of his team's 10 total 3-pointers. Francis and Dillon Palmer put in 6 and 5 points, respectively.

Southern Cayuga was led by Brozon with a team-high 28 points. Kermidas concluded with 16, while Kyler Colton had 6. 

Moravia now moves on to play No. 5 Elmira Notre Dame on Tuesday at Tompkins Cortland Community College in the sectional semifinals.

Like last season, the Blue Devils' shooting from outside has played a key role in their offense. However, with a roster that has gone through a number of changes since last year, Mulvaney recognized his players for stepping up to the occasion. 

"It's all the work the kids are doing," he said. "They put in a ton of time making what their skill set is, and a lot of them are just good, pure shooters. So they spend a lot of time to get better at it. That's a credit to them and the hours that they put in to hone it, and being the best shooters they can be."